


M is for Mactation

by Jazzie



Series: A to Z of Danny Whump! [13]
Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Gen, Human Sacrifice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-11
Updated: 2017-02-11
Packaged: 2018-09-23 13:19:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,496
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9659162
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jazzie/pseuds/Jazzie
Summary: Press conferences had never been Danny's favourite thing but now?  If he survived the night, he was never attending another one... ever!





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Mactation – act of killing a victim for sacrifice
> 
> Human sacrifice is mentioned, it's not in massive amounts of detail but it is discussed. It is part of history, so I have left this as as G rating but please don't read if you have any concerns. Feel free to message me if you'd like more information before venturing further!

Danny Williams came to lying face down on the ground and it was dark.  He wasn’t on his bed, or even on the floor, but on the ground outside.  Turning his head to the side he noticed he wasn’t alone.  ‘ _What the hell?!’_  He tried to move, to see what was going on but found that his hands were tied behind his back, even worse his ankles were tied together, which were then in turn tied to his wrists, leaving his knees bent and his feet in the air behind his back.  He was _hogtied_!

Closing his eyes he desperately tried to recall how he got into this particular situation.  There was no sign of Steve so he couldn’t blame him, well at least he didn’t think he could.  The person next to him spoke.

“What’s happening?  Where are we?” it was a young woman’s voice.

“I dunno.  I don’t even remember how I got here!”

“Neither do I,” a voice from his other side said.  This time it was an older man’s voice.

“How many people are here?” asked Danny trying to assess the situation.

People called out and from the different sounds of the voices there seemed to be about a dozen people.  Danny was wondering why they were all trussed up out here, presumably in the middle of nowhere given the lack of traffic or other noise, and they seemed to be alone.  Trussed up and left.  Why?  This had a familiar feel about it, but he couldn’t put his finger on why.  Perhaps he’d been drugged to get him here, or hit over the head, he did have a headache so both scenarios were possible and it would certainly explain why his brain felt foggy.

They all laid there in silence, just trying to absorb the situation they found themselves in.  Perhaps all it had needed was for him to just stay still and quiet because it was at that moment that he realised why this was familiar and it hit him like a Mack truck.  This, the situation he was in, this was part of the case he’d been involved in investigating, a shiver ran through him at the thought.  Human sacrifice!

 

 

-5-0-

 

 

2 days previously.

 

Danny tapped on Steve’s front door before opening it in his usual manner, “Steve?”

“I’m in the kitchen.”

“What’s the matter with you?  Didn’t you hear your cell ringing?” demanded Danny as he entered.

“Huh?  No,” the SEAL quickly pulled his phone out of his pants pocket and saw that he had one missed call from the Governor and three from his partner, “That’s strange,” he checked that the phone wasn’t set to silent, it wasn’t, “Ringer must be broken.  I’ll get Chin to take a look, if he can’t fix it I’ll buy a new one,” he shrugged, “What’s up?”

“The Governor called me in an absolute fit.  Apparently there has been some sort of mass murder near one of the state monuments.”

“Can you be a little bit more specific Danno?  There are a few state monuments on Oahu!”

“Don’t call me Danno,” he pulled out his phone for the details he’d been sent, “Ulupo Heiau.”

“OK, that’s on the other side of the island near Kailua.  It will take about thirty minutes to get across there.”

“Well then let’s go Super SEAL!”  Danny reached the Camaro first but given that he didn’t know exactly where they were going he threw the keys to Steve and allowed him to drive.

“So can you tell me anything more than mass murder at a state monument?”

“No, I was busy trying to find out why my partner wasn’t answering his phone!  I did however ask Chin and Kono to get in touch with HPD to see if they could get any more information,” as he said this he pulled out his cell and dialled Chin, putting it on speaker, “Hey Chin, found Steve.  He’s got a problem with the ringer on his cell, apparently!  What have you got for me, babe?”

“A family on vacation went to visit the Ulupo Heiau this morning and when they got there they found twelve dead bodies.  The site is thought to have been a heiau luakini, that’s a sacrificial temple to you Danny!”

“You’re kidding?  Right?” Danny looked horrified.

“I wish I were Danny.  HPD took one look and called the Governor, who in turn requested 5-0 investigate.”

“That’s just…”  Steve was at a loss for words.  Twelve murders in one go; no wonder the Governor had requested them.  This was going to be an extremely high profile case once the press got wind of it.

“Yeah, I know.  CSU and the ME are already on scene but they’ve been told to wait until you arrive before they touch anything.”

“Alright.  Danny and I will go to the site and feed any information we get on the victims back to you and Kono for follow up.  We’re going to need to know everything about these people.  Any connections between them, where and when they were last seen…  You know the drill.”

“You got it boss,” Chin replied.

Hanging up the partners glanced at each other, neither able to put into words the feeling of horror that twelve murders had been committed on _their_ island.  There was an almost imperceptible increase in speed as Steve accelerated. 

 

 

-5-0-

 

 

When they arrived at Ulupo Heiau there was a short trek from the monument there to the actual heiau itself.  A huddle of police officers and CSU stood nearby and a man was talking to one of the officers while a woman stood nearby with her two children enfolded in her arms.

“I’ll take the witnesses, you take the scene?” asked Steve.

“You’ll take the witnesses?  Steven these people have been traumatised, are you sure you can be sensitive…” Danny’s words faltered at the look on his partner’s face, “OK, you take the witnesses.”  
Danny walked over to join Charlie Fong, one of the Crime Scene team and Max, the ME.  “What do you got for me fellas?”

“Twelve bodies,” Charlie replied, “Other than that, can’t tell you as we were told not to enter the scene until you showed.”

“Alright, let’s go,” Danny led the men to the heaiu where a Hawaiian man was just leaving.  Danny looked at Max and Charlie questioningly.

“He is a kahuna, a priest.  The spirits need to be asked for permission for us to enter and the kahuna has given his blessing,” Charlie supplied.

“Huh,” Danny didn’t quite know what to make of it, but if it was part of the Hawaiian culture, then he’d roll with it.  Entering the heiau even the seasoned Detective was repulsed by what he found.  Twelve victims lay in a long line, side by side and lying in pools of their own blood.  Charlie quickly began to take photos, documenting each body while another CSI was drawing nearby.

Max started with the body nearest what would have been the altar and moved his way down, checking the body temperatures with his liver probe.  Danny stood silently by until the ME had finished.

“Well?”

“Time of death would have been around midnight.  They each have a stab wound to the abdomen and a hole in their chests where their hearts have been removed, starting with the body nearest the altar and then moving down the line,” Max’s voice was detached and professional.

Danny shuddered, the last person had to lay and wait while eleven other people were killed.  He couldn’t begin to imagine the fear…  Turning his full attention back to Max, the ME showed him on the first body the gaping hole through which the heart would have been removed.

“Charlie, make sure the team do a thorough sweep of the area just in case the killer left the hearts somewhere close by.  I know it’s unlikely but…”  
“No problem Danny,” Charlie assured him, “It looks like they were all bound at some point,” he pointed out the ropes lying beside each of the bodies. 

They were all professionals, used to dealing with death, but twelve people killed and mutilated in such a way at the same time was just… horrific seemed too tame a word to use, but it was beyond anything they’d seen before.

“Max, can you try to establish if the wounds were inflicted by one person?”

“It may be possible to compare the wounds, the angle, whether the person was right or left handed…”

“Thanks, call when you have something…”

“Detective Williams…”  
“Yeah,” he turned back to face Max.

“I believe you will need those,” he indicated the IDs that he had given to Charlie as he had checked each body.  Charlie in turn had placed each one in an evidence bag and labelled it.

“Thanks Max, Charlie,” he nodded before turning to leave in search of his partner and finding the man standing next to him.  Damn ninja!  “Got IDs, let’s call them in to Kono and Chin; they can have HPD carry out the notifications.”

“Yeah, OK.  Press is here.  They want a statement.  I don’t know what to say!”

“Nothing you can say babe.  The families of the victims haven’t even been notified yet.”

The two men walked back to the area where the car was parked, Steve on the phone with Chin.  When they reached the Camaro Steve slid behind the wheel still on the phone, while Danny went and spoke to the HPD officer in charge briefly.

As Danny walked back to the car he heard his name called, looked up and groaned.  It was a reporter.

“Detective Williams!” she called again.

Steve had done this on purpose!  Slipped into the Camaro to avoid the press, Danny should have done the same thing, but one of them needed to speak to HPD.  Unfortunately that meant he was spotted crossing back towards his car.

“Ms Cavanagh,” he greeted.  It didn’t pay to piss the press off.

“What can you tell us Detective?”

“Nothing!”

“Oh come on.  We already know that something major has happened here.  Look at the number of HPD vehicles, throw in the fact that Commander McGarrett and you are here…” she trailed off.

Danny took a deep breath, knowing that he needed to keep it professional, by that he means not letting the stream of swear words that were building up leave his mouth; he decides to give her the bare minimum, “An incident occurred here some time during the night.  I am not at liberty to discuss the situation any further.  The Governor’s office will release a statement later today,” that said he quickly strode towards the Camaro, further questions being shouted at his back, which he ignored.  Opening the door he threw himself into the passenger seat and let off the stream of expletives he’d been holding back.

Steve turned in surprise at the creative language his partner was using before turning his attention back to the phone and giving the details of the twelfth victim to Chin and hanging up, “Danny?”

“Damned reporters!”

“You didn’t tell them anything, did you?”

“Did I tell…” he sat there with his mouth slightly agape at the question before his hands started to fly as he told his partner exactly what he thought of that, “Of course _not_ Steven!  I am a professional.  I don’t just wear a shirt and tie and look professional, I actually _am_ a professional!  That means that I know not to discuss an on-going investigation with the media….” Luckily for Steve his diatribe was cut short by Danny’s cell ringing.  Pulling the cell out of his pocket Danny glared at the display before answering, “Williams!”

_“Detective Williams, please update me on the situation.”_

“There are twelve bodies, stab wound to the abdomen and hearts removed.  We have their IDs which Detective Kelly and Officer Kalakaua are currently running.  They’ll pass details to HPD to carry out the notifications to the next of kin.”

_“I hear you spoke to the press,”_ the Governor didn’t sound happy about it and it explained why she was on the phone to him instead of Steve.

“Yes Governor I did.  I merely told them that there was an incident at the site during the night and that I couldn’t discuss any details.  I also advised them that your office would release a statement later today.”

_“I see.  Well thank you for volunteering my staff for that job Detective Williams!”_

“Look, Governor, I don’t have the time or the inclination to arrange a press conference myself!  We have a potential sociopath on Oahu and I would think my time would be better spent trying to catch this person!” Danny looked over at Steve briefly; the other man looked a little shocked at the tone he was taking with the Governor.

There was a pause on the other end of the line and Danny wondered if he was about to be requested to appear before the Governor for a severe dressing down about his attitude and lack of respect, _“I understand that, however a 5-0 presence will be required at that press conference Detective Williams and that person will be you.”_

“Me?  Wouldn’t Commander McGarrett be the best choice for a press conference, given that he’s the head of the task force?” asked Danny, catching a glare from said Commander.

_“Ordinarily I would agree but given the situation I believe that you, with your experience in law enforcement, will be better placed to handle the press in this case.”_

“Yes Governor.”

_“I will see you here at 5:00 PM and I will set the press conference for 5:30 PM.  That way we’ll have thirty minutes to have a chat,”_ Danny could hear the slight smile in the Governor’s voice at that.  He guessed that would be when he got the dressing down.

“Yes Governor,” hanging up the phone, he once again swore emphatically.

“Problem?” asked Steve.

“Yes,” growled Danny, “The Governor has volunteered me to do the press conference this afternoon.  I have to be at the Governor’s by 5:00 PM.”

“Oh…” Steve tried really hard not to look too gleeful, honestly he did!

“Wipe that smirk off your face Super SEAL or I will hurt you!”

“Detective,” Steve pointed to Danny, “Navy SEAL,” he pointed to himself, “I don’t think so!” The grin that he gave was all out shit eating.

“One day, when you least expect it, I will prove to you that I have skills that a SEAL would be envious of!”

“Oh really?” scoffed Steve.

“Yeah, really!” Danny folded his arms across his chest and ignored his smirking partner for the rest of the journey back to the Palace.

 

 

-5-0-

 

 

When Danny and Steve entered the communal space at 5-0 with the computer table they found their two other team mates at that table.

“What have we got?” Steve asked by way of greeting.

“Twelve victims, ranging in age from twenty to sixty.  Six men, six women.  The checks we’ve run so far say they have absolutely nothing in common,” Kono told them.

“They had a wide range of jobs and lived all over the island.  There is nobody in their backgrounds that they all knew,” stated Chin, “Some were married, some had kids and some were single.”

“There must be a reason why the killer picked these specific people,” Steve pointed at the dozen pictures on the plasma screen.

“If there is we can’t find one.  There isn’t even a type to the victims, even if you take the men and women separately.  Different hair colour, eye colour, build,” Kono sighed, frustrated.

The team stood in silence for a few minutes just looking at each other, well all of them except Danny who was staring at the pictures on the plasma, but didn’t appear to be actually _looking_ at them, more staring through them.

“Danny?” Steve prodded gently.

“Huh?” the Detective shook himself slightly.

“What are you thinking?”

“Chin, you said this place was once a sacrificial temple, right?” he pointed at the picture of Ulupo Heiau that was also up on one of the plasmas.

“That’s right.  Ulupo was thought to have been a heiau luakini at some point in its history,” replied Chin.

“I think that this could have been part of a human sacrifice ritual.”

“Oh come on, you can’t be serious?” Steve scoffed a little at that.

“Yes Steven, I am.  Throughout history there has been talk of human sacrifice rituals.  I’ll give you an example, the Aztecs.  They would lay the person to be sacrificed on a stone slab at the top of the temple, then their abdomen would be sliced open with a ceremonial knife.  A priest would then grab the heart and tear it out, while it was still beating.”

“That’s just gross,” Kono screwed up her nose.

“Didn’t you learn anything in school?” asked Danny with a small smile.

“I don’t remember learning about human sacrifice!”

“It’s a part of a lot of cultures, including Hawaiian,” pointed out the one person in the room who didn’t consider himself in any way, shape or form Hawaiian, “Heaiu luakini, remember?”

“Would that all have been done by just one person?” Chin wanted to know more. 

“No.  Normally there would be up to five priests.”

“Are you saying that we have five insane killers running round this island?” Steve asked sceptically.

“No, I’m not saying that.  We need to wait for Max to tell us more.  All I’m saying is the person, or people, responsible have followed some of the rituals of Aztec human sacrifice.  We need more information!” Danny wasn’t impressed by Steve’s dismissive attitude.  Yes, it was a bit farfetched, but it wouldn’t be the first time a killer had utilised some aspect of history in their killings, “I’ll be in my office if anyone needs me.”

“What was that about?” Steve asked, shocked at his partner’s quick departure.

“You didn’t need to be so dismissive of his thoughts,” Chin pointed out, “Danny was just putting an idea out there to be chewed over.”

“Yeah brah, I mean, I agree it’s a little out there, but it can’t hurt to listen to his ideas.  We’re always telling him he needs to be more open minded…”

Steve looked from Chin and Kono over to Danny’s office, the door of which was closed.  He could see his partner typing away at his computer; clearly intent on what he was doing, “Yeah, OK.  I’ll tone down the scepticism and apologise…” Steve was cut off by the ringing of his cell.  The person on the other end clearly didn’t want to get into any type of conversation, as Steve didn’t even get a chance to say anything.

Chin and Kono exchanged a glance, “Max!” they stated simultaneously.

Steve rolled his eyes and went to Danny’s office door and knocked briefly before opening it, “Max called, he wants to see us.”

Danny locked his computer and got up from his desk to follow Steve out to the Camaro, silently climbing into the passenger seat without comment.

“I’m sorry Danny.”

“For what exactly?” he knew, but he wasn’t going to make this too easy.  He had been truly hurt by Steve’s dismissal of his thoughts.  They were preliminary and may not actually mean anything, but the similarities were undeniable.

“Not giving your theory the respect it deserved.  We’re still in the early stages of the investigation and to dismiss any idea this early on isn’t smart.”

“Your apology is noted and accepted.”

“Accepted?  Not pending acceptance?” Steve teased.

“No Steven.  You have realised the error of your ways without me needing to rant at you.  I will be sure to thank Kono and Chin later for pointing it out for me!” he grinned back at his partner whose mouth was currently hanging open.  They all knew each other too well.

Arriving at the Medical Examiner’s building they went straight for Max’s office where he was waiting for them.

“Hey Max,” they both greeted the somewhat eccentric ME.

“Detective Williams, Lieutenant Commander McGarrett, I haven’t completed the autopsies on all the bodies yet, as I am sure you can appreciate these will take some time.  However since I was asked a specific question relating to the victims injuries I decided to start with examining the wounds.”

“What did you find Max,” prompted Danny, wishing the man didn’t feel the need to go into such detail at times.

“The wounds were all inflicted by the same knife and person.”

“One person?”

“Yes, Commander McGarrett.  I can say with a degree of certainty that the same person stabbed each of these victims in the abdomen and then used the knife to cut open the chest and rip the heart out.”

“How can you tell Max?”

“The angle of the wounds, the force which was used, is consistent with a right handed individual.  If the wounds had been inflicted by different people then the depth and angle of the wounds would conceivably be different.”

“Degree of certainty?  Conceivably?” Steve asked.

“I can’t be 100% sure of this, but my findings do strongly suggest it.  The knife was definitely the same.  There must be an imperfection on the blade which is shown in all the wounds.  The knife you are looking for is serrated and I would say that two of the teeth that make up the serrations are broken.”

“If we find the weapon can it be matched?” Danny wanted to know.

“Yes.  The blade struck bone and left a mark as unique as a fingerprint.”

“Thanks Max.  Please let us know if you find anything else.”

“Of course,” he pushed his glasses back up his nose before walking out of his office and back to complete the autopsies.

“What now?” Steve wanted to know.  He recognised the look on Danny’s face and the man clearly had an idea.

“Let’s head over to HPD and speak to Charlie,” suggested Danny.

“OK,” the two men left to drive the short distance to HPD HQ.

 

 

-5-0-

 

 

The door opened to the lab area and Charlie looked up, “Hey Danny, Steve.”

“Hey Charlie,” Steve smiled but allowed Danny to take the lead on getting an update.

“Charlie,” greeted Danny, “Have you had a chance to look at the ropes used to tie the victims up yet?”

“I was just starting them now,” he indicated the evidence bags stacked to the side of his work space.

“I know you might not be able to tell us this, but is there any way to know if the ropes were tied by the same person?”

“If there’s DNA on the rope, of course, if not… I’m not sure.”

“Could you compare the way the knots were tied?”

“Yes.  That won’t necessarily tell you if the same person tied them though.”  
“But if the knots are identical then surely there’s a good chance of it?” Danny pressed.

“I guess.  It’s not something I could swear to in court though.”

“Fair enough.  Can you do me a favour and check that?”

“Yeah, of course,” Charlie replied.

“Thanks man, appreciate it,” Danny smiled, “Anything else to tell us?”

“No hearts found.  We cast some footprints and tyre treads which one of the techs is trying to identify, but I don’t have anything for you yet.”

“OK, call us when you’ve got something,” Steve slapped him on the back and the partners left him to get on with his work.

“Back to the Palace?”

“Huh?” Danny was a little caught up in his thoughts and didn’t quite catch what he’d been asked.

“I said, back to the Palace?”

“Yeah,” the pair travelled in unusual silence.

Arriving back at the Palace, Danny headed straight for his office.  Chin and Kono looked at Steve and he just shrugged, deciding to wait for Danny to be ready to share whatever was on his mind.  They didn’t have to wait long.

Danny came back into the communal area and stood by the computer table before speaking, “I honestly think that whoever did this took their idea from human sacrifice rituals.  I did some research and there are obvious differences.”

“Like what?” Steve asked, trying to keep an open mind.

“During the Aztec rituals the person to be sacrificed wasn’t tied up at any point.”

“Anything else?” asked Chin.

“Yeah.  The priest didn’t cut open the chest to get the heart.  The cut to the abdomen would go through the diaphragm; the priest would simply reach in through the diaphragm and grab the heart!”

“I am so glad that I wasn’t alive back then!” Kono stated emphatically, shuddering.

“How do you know you weren’t?” Chin grinned at her.

“You mean like in a past life?” she raised an eyebrow at her cousin.

“Exactly Cuz!”

“Why do you think this ritual is different?” Steve asked genuinely interested.

“I think it’s just one person, hence tying the victims up.  As for the heart, maybe they want to make the ritual more individual to themselves so instead of reaching through the diaphragm, they cut the heart out.  I don’t know, I’m just guessing here.”

“Twelve people, one individual.”

“We haven’t got the tox screen back yet, but I’m willing to bet they were each drugged.  The perp probably had a vehicle nearby and took them one at a time and left them in the vehicle until he reached the site.  The heiau’s are closed after dark.  There’s nothing of monetary value out there, so no security.  Once it was dark the perp moved the victims out, again one at a time, to the heiau where they were found this morning.”

“Twelve victims though.  Is there significance to that do you think?”

“Maybe, I don’t know.”

Steve looked carefully at Danny, “There’s something else.  What is it?”

Danny shoved his hands in his pockets, a move that Steve recognised as being defensive, and he shrugged.

“Come on Danny, what is it?”

“I don’t think this was his or her first time killing like this.  Twelve people is a lot, I think they would have built up to this level of violence.”

“We’d know if something else like this had happened on Oahu.”

“Doesn’t necessarily have to have been on Oahu,” Danny pointed out, “There are other Hawaiian islands with heiau’s and other religious monuments where it’s possible that sacrifices took place.”

“OK, Chin, Kono, get searches going of all law enforcement databases for crimes involving these components.  Reach out to the forces on the other islands,” ordered Steve.  Whether this involved human sacrifice or not, it was still murder and Danny had a point.  If this was one individual then they’d likely escalated to this level of violence.

 

 

-5-0-

 

 

Promptly at 5:00 PM Danny presented himself at the Governor’s office.  A fresh shirt and tie retrieved from his office desk and a quick shower to ensure he looked fresh and professional.  He was shown immediately into her office.

“Detective Williams,” she greeted him formally.

“Ma’am,” he returned the favour.

“Firstly let’s discuss your little outburst earlier shall we?”

Danny fidgeted, reminded of the numerous times he had been sent to the principal’s office, “I apologise if I was rude Governor, but you didn’t see what I did out there,” his hands waved around.

“Your apology is accepted Danny,” she smiled at him, “In future if you’re going to offer the services of my staff, I would appreciate a call either before the fact or, if that’s not possible, straight after.”

“Yes Ma’am.”

“Good, now sit down and let’s talk about how we’re going to handle this press conference.”

 

 

-5-0-

 

 

Steve, Kono and Chin all paused in their work dealing with the numerous hits they’d got on crimes with similar aspects to the one at Ulupo, trying to weed out the ones that only shared certain commonalities, to watch the press conference.

“Ladies and Gentleman, thank you for coming.  I would like to hand this press conference over to Detective Williams, who has a statement to make in relation to an incident at Ulupo Heiau today.”

“Thank you Governor,” said Danny as he stepped up to the microphone, there wasn’t even a sign of the nerves that the rest of his team knew he must be feeling, “At approximately 8:00 AM this morning several bodies were discovered at Ulupo Heiau,” he had agreed with the Governor that although they needed to share some information with the press, they didn’t want to create a panic by telling the public, just yet, about how many bodies had been found or in what condition, “HPD attended the scene and requested assistance from 5-0, which we are happy to be able to provide.  The next of kin of the deceased are still being notified, so we will not be giving out further details about them at this time.  I would like to appeal to the public for assistance, if you saw anything unusual in the area of Ulupo Heiau State Monument between 6:00 PM last night and 8:00 AM this morning please contact the number shown on screen, any information provided will be treated in the strictest of confidence.  No matter how small it might seem, please call.  A further press conference will be arranged for the same time tomorrow evening.  Thank you for your time,” Danny stepped back from the microphone to questions being shouted at him.  The Governor took Danny’s place and skilfully avoided answering any of the questions while the Detective made good his escape.

“He did really well.  Didn’t mention how many bodies or that it was murder,” Kono was impressed.

“He’s getting better at pronouncing names as well.  I could barely tell that he wasn’t a local from the way he pronounced Ulupo Heiau,” Chin pointed out.

“I’m just glad it was him and not me up there!” Steve grinned.


	2. Chapter 2

Danny returned to the Palace and walked back into the 5-0 offices only to be set up on by the rest of his team when they noticed the take away bags he was carrying.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!”  Danny manoeuvred around them, “You bunch of animals!  At least let me get into the room!”

Kono giggled as she followed him to the conference table on the right hand side of the communal office and helped him unpack the Chinese food that he had stopped to get for them.

Steve produced a bottle of beer for each of them from the fridge in his office.  It was low alcohol, since they’d likely be working all night or at least for a good portion of it, but it was still welcomed by his team.

By silent agreement the case wasn’t discussed while they were eating.  Who wanted to talk about human sacrifice while munching on Kung Pao chicken?  Instead they talked about Kono’s surfing, Grace’s latest exploits, Steve’s fixer upper of a car and how Chin was finding dating Malia again.  It didn’t strike Danny as odd that when he spoke it was only about Grace, because time off in Oahu meant spending time with Grace whenever he could.

Once the four had had their fill they cleared away the remainder of the meal, putting the leftovers in the fridge in their small kitchen area and then they gathered around the computer table.

“So, while I was playing deer in the camera lights, what did you find?”

“Too many cases involve hearts being removed from bodies!” Kono stated.

“We spent the time going through them all and taking out ones that didn’t seem likely to fit.  Organs stolen from corpses at a mortuary, that kind of thing,” Chin told him.

“Who would want…?  Never mind, I don’t need to know,” it never ceased to amaze Danny the things humans were capable of doing.

“We have three that we think are likely to be the same person or persons,” Steve turned to Danny letting him know with a look that they were by no means dismissing his one person theory but were keeping their options open, “Mookini Heiau State Monument on the Big Island, over a period of four months, January to April this year, they found four bodies there, each time the abdomen was slit open and the heart was missing.”

“Halekii-Pihana Heiau State Monument on Maui, in June this year, they found four bodies in the same state as the ones at Ulupo.  Tied up, abdomen slit open, heart missing,” Kono supplied the next location.

Finally Chin told Danny about the final one they’d managed to find that exactly matched their own case, “Poli’ahu Heiau on Kauai, August, they found eight bodies, same again.  Tied up, abdomen slit, heart missing.”

“In all three cases the bodies were found at a heiau luakini site and there were no leads found.  Each of the tox reports on the victims shows that they were dosed with diazepam.  If ours comes back the same…”

“Then chances are we have a serial killer or killers,” Danny finished.

“Yeah,” Steve ran a hand through his hair, “Look there’s nothing more we can do tonight.  Let’s all go and get some rest and come back tomorrow morning.  Hopefully with fresh eyes and more information from Max and Charlie we’ll be able to see something that we’ve missed.”

Although reluctant to leave, they did all agree in the end that it would be better to start again early the next morning after some sleep.

 

 

-5-0-

 

 

Steve, Chin and Kono entered the office the following morning to find Danny already there.  In fact it didn’t look like he’d been home given his dishevelled appearance.

“Danny?”

“Oh, morning guys,” he replied a little absentmindedly.

“Did you get _any_ sleep last night?  You did go home didn’t you?” Steve crossed his arms over his chest.

“Yes to both!  I woke up a couple hours ago and couldn’t sleep so came into the office,” in truth they had left the office around midnight and he’d come back at about 4:00 AM, but he wasn’t telling them that.

Steve was about to tell his partner to go and get some more sleep when his cell rang, “McGarrett…  Where?  How many?  We’ll be there in thirty minutes,” he snapped his cell shut, “Twelve more bodies, Keaiwa Heiau.”

“Huh,” was all Danny said.

“That’s it?  Huh?  I tell you twelve more people have been murdered and all you can manage is huh?” Steve glared at his partner.

“Just, it doesn’t fit.”

“What do you mean Danny?” Chin asked, surprised.

“According to my research Keaiwa Heiau was a medicinal or healing heiau.  Luakini isn’t mentioned.”

“That is different, so perhaps it’s not about the luakini so much as about the heiau itself?”  Kono pondered.

“Not to mention this is an extreme escalation in the killer or killers’ behaviour!  There has been weeks between kills previously,” Danny pointed out.

“Shit.  Let’s go!” Steve ordered, the four team members heading out together.  Kono and Chin in his SUV, Steve and Danny in the Camaro.

The scene at Keiawa Heiau was identical to the one they had found at Ulupo, the bodies in a line, abdomens slit and hearts gone.

 

 

-5-0-

 

 

5:30 that evening found Danny once again at the Governor’s office and standing in front of the press.  Sadly they had to be more specific about the murders at the two heiau’s, the public had to be warned.

“Thank you for coming.  At 7:00 AM this morning more bodies were found at Keiawa Heiau.  The last thing that I want to do is cause the good people of Oahu to panic but we believe that you all have the right to know what has happened.  You may find the following details distressing.  Twelve individuals were found murdered at both Ulupo and Keiawa.  There is an element of ritual sacrifice being utilised.  We believe that the person carrying out these heinous crimes is a sociopath.  It is likely to be a male, of average height and build.  He is between the ages of twenty and thirty.  The man is probably unemployed and hasn’t had a job in sometime due to being unreliable and the fact he moves around a lot.  He will have a sense of entitlement and will lack the ability to show shame or remorse.  The end will always justify the means to this individual.  It is likely that he will have a history of behavioural or academic difficulties and may have shown cruelty to animals early on.  This man is using diazepam to subdue his victims before he kills them.  If anything that I have said resembles someone you know, then please contact the number on your screens, your call will be treated in the strictest confidence.  I would also caution you about walking around on your own until this man is apprehended.  Thank you.”

Danny puffed out a breath as he left the Governor’s office.  He was tired and this whole situation was difficult, to say the least.  The team and HPD had been run ragged all day trying to notify the families of the victims and tracking any leads.

He pulled away from the Governor’s and drove off into the fading light.  Stopping to pick up some take away meant he needed to park the Camaro and then walk down a quiet street but the team needed to eat.  Danny never noticed the man walking towards him until he bumped into him.

“Oh, excuse me Detective Williams.”

That got Danny’s attention.  He knew that the members of 5-0 were now quite well known on the island but it was disconcerting for a stranger to address him, “That’s alright,” he replied and started to walk away, stumbling slightly, suddenly dizzy.

“Here, let me help you,” the man looked around before manhandling Danny into a waiting van, removing his cell and dropping it in the gutter before throwing him in the back.  Then he jumped into the passenger seat and they were gone.

 

 

-5-0-

 

 

“How did Danny get that profile information?” Kono wanted to know later.

“He contacted a friend at the BAU in DC,” replied Steve, “If it wasn’t for the time it would take them to get here they would have sent a team out to help.”

“Where is Danny anyway, shouldn’t he be back by now?”  Chin asked.

“Yeah, he should be,” Steve pulled out his cell and dialled but got no answer.  “Perhaps he’s still with the Governor,” he dialled again; “Hello Governor is Danny still with you?  When did he leave?  OK, no, there’s no problem, thanks.”

“Well?” demanded Kono.

“He left the Governor’s nearly an hour ago.  Trace his cell,” Steve turned to Chin to find him already doing it.

“It’s showing at Kukahi Street just off North Nimitz Highway,” advised Chin.

“Isn’t that where Little Caesars Pizza is?”

“Yeah it is, he’s probably stopped there to get dinner.”

The three team mates relaxed, at least for a short while.  When Danny still hadn’t returned thirty minutes later and they still couldn’t reach him on his cell, Chin and Steve left to see what was going on.  Kono stayed in the office in case he turned up there.

Chin and Steve pulled into Kukahi Street and found the Camaro parked at the side of the road, with no sign of Danny.  Both men walked to the pizza place and asked if they had seen Danny but nobody fitting his description had been in.  Even more worried they left and returned to the Camaro and Steve dialled Danny’s cell.  They heard it ringing and Chin found it at the side of the road.

“This is so not good brah,” Chin stated.

“I know,” Steve responded, “Let’s get back to the Palace, I’ll take the Camaro back,” he pulled out his keys with the spare key for Danny’s car attached, “Get a BOLO out on Danny!”

They returned to the Palace to find Kono pacing, “Did you find him?”

“No.  We only found his cell!”

“Guys, what if it’s the man whose been committing these murders at the heiau?”

“Let’s not jump to conclusions.  It could just as easily be Shane Warner.  In fact, Kono, track him down, make sure he’s still on the mainland and hasn’t managed to get back onto the islands,” Steve ordered.

“What if Kono’s right,” Chin spoke quietly to Steve.

“Then we need to figure out where he’s going with Danny.”

“I’m going to check Danny’s office; he’d printed off a lot of research on heiau luakini.”

Steve nodded and then picked up the phone in his office to inform the Governor that Danny was missing.

Two hours later the three remaining 5-0 team members gathered around the computer table.

“Kono, what did you find on Shane Warner?”

“I checked all incoming flights to Oahu in the last month.  Warner wasn’t on any of them and none of his known aliases are showing up.  Honestly he could be using a different name, changed his appearance, flown to one of the other islands, got a cruise ship here…”

“Yeah, OK, I get it!” sighed Steve, “Chin, what have you found?”

 “I went through what Danny had printed off.  At the bottom of a _very_ big pile of printouts, I found this,” he laid a map of Oahu on the computer table.  It showed where all the state parks were on Oahu.  “He’s highlighted three,” Chin pointed to them, “One is Ulupo, one is Keiawa and the other is Pu’u O Mahuka.”

“So, the two sites where the murders were committed but what about the third?”

“It’s the only other heiau luakini on Oahu according to Danny’s research.”

That got Steve’s attention, “Perhaps Danny thought that was where the killer would go to next, if indeed he kills again on Oahu.”

“I think it’s worth checking out Steve.  Danny went on the evening news and told everyone that this guy was a sociopath.  If he saw that it could have potentially made him a target.”

“Alright, let’s go.  It’ll take nearly an hour to get there.”  Steve was out the door before the sentence was complete.

 

 

-5-0-

 

 

Danny was uncomfortable and even though it was a reasonably warm night he was actually chilled.  He knew the team would have missed him by now, but would they have put two and two together…  He chided himself, of course they would. 

The team would find him, but that didn’t mean he was going to wait around to be rescued like some damsel in distress!  Anyway there was always a chance they wouldn’t make it in time so he had to get free and protect these people from the maniac that had decided to offer them up as human sacrifices.

“Can everyone hear me?” he called out.  When he got a general sound of agreement he spoke again, “I am Detective Danny Williams with 5-0.  We are going to get out of this.  I want you to lie back to back with the person next to you and see if you can undo the ropes at your wrists,” putting actions into words he rolled on to his left side and nudged the person next to him.  They took the hint and rolled on to their side.  “I’m going to try to undo your ropes first,” stated Danny.

“OK,” came the reply, it was the young woman.

His fingers were numb from lack of blood flow where the ropes had been bound tightly but once he started manipulating them and trying to undo the rope at her wrists the feeling started to come back.  It was painful but it was also good, it kept him aware despite how tired he felt.

“I felt them loosen!”

“That’s good, sorry what’s your name?”

“Naomi.”

“That’s good Naomi, just don’t move, if you do you could pull them tight again,” it had to have been a good twenty minutes before Danny felt the ropes loosen and they fell from Naomi’s wrists.

“Oh my god!  You did it!” Naomi quickly turned over and undid his ropes, when Danny finally sat up his world span and he felt extremely dizzy, but he pushed the feeling away.  Glancing at his watch he noticed it was gone 11:00 PM.  If the killer wanted them all ‘sacrificed’ around midnight he’d return soon.  He needed to get these people free and out of the area. 

“Help me untie everyone,” he looked down the line of people noticing that they were all still, clearly having given up quite quickly trying to free one another.  Naomi nodded and they alternated as they went down the line until everyone was free.  Including Danny there were thirteen people.  Perhaps he was a late addition.

Danny was gathering the group when the sound of a vehicle pulling up was heard and the sound of footsteps approached quickly.  The group were blinded when a powerful flashlight was shone on them.  Danny immediately stepped to the front trying to use his presence to protect the others as much as possible.

“YOU!” the husky voice of a man came from the darkness behind the flashlight.

“Let these people go.  I’ll stay but…”  
“NO!  There needs to be at least twelve people for the sacrifice,” there was a definite hint of mania in those words.

“There aren’t going to be any sacrifices tonight.  I will not let you kill these innocent people,” the Detective prayed that this man didn’t have a gun, if he did then not only was he dead, so were the people he was trying to protect.  He was kind of counting on the guy’s desire to follow a certain ritual and bullet holes would ruin that.

“Detective Daniel Williams.  According to you I am a sociopath, but you know nothing about me!” growled the man.

“Ah, so you caught my press conference then.  How did I look?” Danny could hear Steve’s voice in his head telling him to shut the hell up, but it just wasn’t in his genetic make-up.

“You are ruining my ritual!”

“ _You_ want to _murder_ innocent people!”

“I have to.  It is my duty to appease the gods.”

“Say what?!  I don’t think there is a god in any modern religion that would want you to sacrifice human’s for them!”

“The Aztecs routinely sacrificed humans in order to please the gods.  The life blood of a human sacrifice feeds them and by doing so allows the sun to continue to rise and you to live your miserable existence!”

“Yeah, well guess what, we don’t live in those times, we live in the twenty-first century and human sacrifice is frowned upon!  As for my existence, let me tell you something about that.  I am a Detective on the Governor’s Taskforce.  I put away drug lords; child molesters; gun runners and… _people… like… you!_ I am _proud_ of what I do!”  Danny knew he was pushing this guy’s buttons, but he was desperately trying to distract him from the fact that he was moving tiny step by step.

“People like me?  You mean servants to the gods?  I am better than you, better than any of you!” the man’s voice rose loudly.

Danny felt the people behind him move restlessly.  Too scared to move but wanting desperately to run, “We’re leaving.  Don’t try to stop us,” without taking his eyes off the maniac behind the flashlight Danny spoke over his shoulder, “We are walking out of here people, just make sure you keep me between you and him.”

“He’ll kill us!”

“Lady he’s gonna kill us anyway!  I heard someone say that those poor people at the other heaiu’s had their abdomens slit and their hearts ripped out… I’d rather at least make an attempt to get away and save myself.”  
Danny inwardly groaned.  He had no idea how that information had leaked out and the man telling the others that right at this moment was _not_ helpful.

Naomi spoke up, “Detective Williams wouldn’t suggest that we move if it wasn’t safe to do so, right Detective?”

“No, I wouldn’t.  Walk slowly round to my right, don’t rush and keep me between you and him,” Danny could have kissed Naomi for her confidence in him as she slowly did as he asked.

“NO!  Stay where you are.  I have a gun and I’ll shoot you!”

A quiet gasp went up from the group and they stopped moving.  Danny rolled his eyes, “OK, say you do have a gun and you shoot these nice people.  How does that affect your sacrifice?”

“It doesn’t!  They’re dead.  The gods don’t care about how…”

“Oh, really,” for once Danny was glad that he’d read up on his subject, though a lot of what he was saying was him talking out his ass if he was honest, “I thought the gods liked the ritual behind the sacrifice.  Abdomen slit with a ceremonial knife, heart ripped out.  There’s no ritual if you use a bullet.  I don’t think the gods would be very pleased.”

“SHUT UP!”

“Keep moving,” Danny whispered over his shoulder to Naomi who stood pressed up against his back.  Nodding the young woman did as she was told, “Come on, what god wants a sacrifice made with a bullet?  You’re not a servant to the gods, you’re just a freak!  You’re mentally unstable!”

The flashlight wobbled and the fury in the voice of the man behind it was palpable, “How _dare_ you?  I will slice open your stomach and pull your heart out as it still beats!  I will show you no mercy, unlike the others who sacrificed their lives so that the gods could be appeased.”

“You call that mercy?  I call that barbaric!”  Danny had been taking small steps to his right, still keeping himself between the lunatic and his potential victims as much as possible, but he knew he couldn’t possibly protect all twelve; his only option was to take the man behind the flashlight down.  Glancing round him quickly, getting a sense of where everyone was, in case the man really did have a gun, Danny noticed a blue flash coming from not too far away, it was pulsing.  It must be the rest of 5-0!  There was no doubt about it; the flashing blue light not too far off was that of a police car and Danny would bet his life on it being his team leading the charge.  Actually, he _was_ betting his life on it.

No warning to those around him, he just went from standing still to running full speed towards the man who had brought them here.  He was so shocked to see Danny charge at him that he dropped the flashlight and didn’t even move as the Detective barrelled into him.

The air was knocked out of both men but they recovered quickly.  Danny saw the glint of a knife in the moonlight and rolled out of the way as it came swinging towards him.  The blade embedded in the ground next to him just an inch away from where his head currently lay.

Not giving the other man a chance to pull the blade out of the ground Danny threw himself on top of the other man and wrestled with him.  In truth the struggle lasted longer than it should have but Danny was bone tired and the only thing keeping him going was adrenaline at this point.  The man underneath him bucked and wriggled but couldn’t throw Danny off; seemingly giving up the man went limp.  The Detective wasn’t fooled and only eased up enough to take a look at his surroundings.

There was a group of people running towards them from what he assumed was the direction of the car park, the group that he had been so desperate to protect were hurrying to meet them.  They were all safe.  Clearly he had relaxed a little too much at the sight of help arriving, as the man beneath him managed to move his right arm and before Danny could react, he felt the sting of a needle being plunged into his shoulder.

Well if this maniac thought that was going to get Danny off him he was sadly mistaken.  Struggling to fight the drugs that were now in his system, he just let his full body weight push down on the man beneath him.

“Danny!” Steve’s voice was like music to his ears, not that he would ever tell the SEAL that, “Are you alright?” he helped his friend off his would be killer and he was swiftly handed over to HPD.

“Bastard stuck me with a needle!” Danny groaned, rubbing his shoulder.

Steve looked at the ground and saw the discarded syringe, “Shit!  Kono, get EMTs.”

“Pfft, I’ll be fine, help me up,” he held a hand up and Steve shrugged at Chin and Kono before helping Danny to his feet.  He didn’t last long and a wave of dizziness swept over him.  Thanks to Steve and Chin he didn’t face plant on the ground.

“Come on Danno, EMTs, now!”

“Dun… call m… Dan…no!”

 

 

-5-0-

 

 

Steve, Chin and Kono stood at the passenger door of the Camaro grinning fondly at their sleeping team mate.

“Doctor Jensen is sure that he’s going to be OK?” asked Kono, concern removing the grin.

“Yeah, he’s just sedated.  The tox panel came back as showing he had a rather high, but not dangerous, dose of diazepam in his system.  There’s nothing they can do for him here, he just needs to sleep it off, which he can do at my place,” Steve closed the door and walked round to the driver’s side, “See you there?”

“Yup,” Chin and Kono both nodded their agreement.

They arrived back at Steve’s and helped settle their friend into his room before they all turned in for the night.  None of them wanted to be apart that night.

 

 

-5-0-

 

 

Footsteps on the stairs mid-morning the following day made Steve, Chin and Kono look up to see Danny holding on to the wall as he walked down.

Jumping to his feet Steve went to meet him and assisted the still wobbly and limping man to the recliner, “How you feeling?”

“My mouth is full of cotton wool; my head is pounding and my legs don’t want to co-operate!  My knee hurts!  Exactly how much did I have to drink last night?”

“You don’t remember anything?”

“It’s all a bit hazy!”

“Sociopath, human sacrifices, ring any bells?”

“Oh… shit!  Is everyone OK?”

“Thanks to you, they’re fine.  You, however, got a large dose of diazepam just as we arrived, hence the hangover like feeling.  Your knee hurts because you were hogtied for quite a while.”

“Ugh!” A glass of ice cold water appeared in front of him, he lifted bloodshot bleary eyes and gave Kono a small smile, “Thanks babe,” he downed the glass and it was immediately refilled.  Danny leaned back in the recliner and rubbed his hands over his face, “So come on, details?”

“Well from the research you did we figured that the only place left for Manson…” Steve stopped at the incredulous look on Danny’s face.

“Really?  His name was Manson?”

“Oh yeah.  Charles Manson!  Born Sebastian Connors.  He changed his name when he turned twenty-one.”

“I feel like I’m living in a bad movie!”

“Anyway, Chin found the map you had with the three heiau’s marked on it.  We figured that Pu’u O Mahuka was where he would go next so we high tailed it out there.  When we arrived we found a van with a woman behind the wheel.  Manson’s wife.”

“He was married?”

“Yup.”

“Well they do say that sociopath’s are great at conning and manipulating people.”

“Anyway HPD took her into custody and that’s when we came across you and Manson.  He’d literally just stuck you with a syringe full of diazepam.  Sorry man, if we’d been a few minutes earlier…”

“Don’t worry about it.  You got there in time.  If you hadn’t arrived when you did I’d have been powerless and he’d have likely used me as his human sacrifice,” Danny physically shuddered at the thought.

“So, Danny was wrong, he didn’t do it alone.” Kono commented.

“No, he wasn’t wrong.  He didn’t do the abductions alone, but if his wife is to be believed she had nothing to do with the actual murders.” Chin told Kono.

“Right, wrong, I don’t care, the main thing is the psycho is behind bars!” Danny yawned widely.

“Come on, I think you should go back to bed.  Doctor Jensen said it would take a couple of days for you to get over the effects of the diazepam,” Steve pulled Danny to his feet and ushered him up the stairs, only returning to the others when he was sure his friend was safely in his bed asleep.

A couple of hours later Kono had gone for a swim while Steve and Chin stayed inside and watched a game.  At first they weren’t sure they heard anything, so Steve turned the sound off on the TV and then they heard the noise again.  It was Danny!  Both men were up the stairs and in the bedroom in seconds.

Danny was lying tangled in the sheets, sweat glistened on his body and he was crying out in his sleep.

Kneeling next to the bed but not getting too close, Steve tried to wake his partner, “Danny!  Come on man, wake up!”

“Danny, you’re dreaming, wake up!” Chin tried, still nothing.

Steve tentatively laid a hand on Danny’s shoulder and shook him, “DANNY!”

The sleeping man shot bolt upright but was immediately pressed back onto the bed by his two concerned friends.

“What…?”

“Nightmare,” Steve told him succinctly, watching Chin disappear.  He returned a few minutes later with a glass of water.  They helped him sit up and handed him the glass of water which he held in still shaking hands.

“Thanks,” he indicated the water.

“No problem brah,” Chin smiled.

“And sorry,” Danny murmured.

“You’ve got nothing to be sorry for,” assured Steve, “Do you want to talk about it?”

“Not really, but I know that I should,” he took a breath, “I was dreaming that we didn’t get free in time.  Manson came back and went to the start of the line.  He cut the ropes of the first person, rolled them over and stabbed the knife into their abdomen.  The person screamed in agony, but it was nothing compared to the scream when Manson stabbed the knife into their chest so that he could cut out their heart, then he moved on to the next person and I knew that it would be my turn soon…” a shaky hand was rubbed through his hair.

“That didn’t happen Danny,” Steve said trying his best to sooth his best friend.

“Not to me, or the people out there last night, but it did to so many others Steve.”

“You can’t save everyone Danny, you know that,” said Chin squeezing his leg as he sat on the end of the bed.

“I know, but I came so near to suffering that fate and I can’t help but feel for those that actually endured it.  I don’t understand how we managed to get away when others didn’t.  Don’t get me wrong I’m grateful…”

“Perhaps we can help with that,” Steve spoke now, “Normally Manson would grab the people he wanted to use as sacrifices between 10:00 PM and midnight.  Thanks to your press conference he had to step it up which meant that all of you were conscious before you should have been.  That meant you had time to come up with a strategy to get free.”

“Steve…”

“Yes Danny?”

“I’m not doing any more press conferences!”  That got a grin from his friends, but there was still the undercurrent of concern, “Am I allowed a shower?”

“Do you think you can stand long enough?”

“Huh, dunno, hadn’t really thought about that!”

“Why don’t you go into my bathroom, at least if you start to feel dizzy or anything you can sit on the side of the tub.  Just shout if you need a hand.”

Danny untangled his feet from his bedding and got up; gaining his balance with a little help from Steve’s steadying hand.  He walked Danny through to the bathroom and when he was sure he had everything he needed returned to Danny’s room and changed the bedding.  After his shower Danny insisted on going back downstairs.  Yes, he was tired, but he didn’t want to close his eyes again.  The images of people having their hearts ripped out were too much to take right now.

Kono came back in from her swim, had a shower and joined the men in the living room.  This time Steve had steered Danny towards the couch hoping that he would stretch out and fall asleep.  He was out of luck as the man sat against one arm rigidly.

Selecting a light hearted movie that was showing on the TV, the friends sat in silence.  The film had only been on for about half an hour when Danny’s head started to nod.  Kono gently nudged him and tried to get him to lie down on the couch they were both sitting on but he just shook his head.  She looked at Chin and Steve who just shrugged at a loss to know what to do.

Kono rolled her eyes and the next time Danny’s head nodded she grabbed him by his shoulders and pulled him towards her until he was settled with his head on her lap.  Both Chin and Steve pretended not to notice.

Danny tried to fight and sit back up but every time he tried Kono just pushed him back down.  Eventually he gave up the fight, just too damn tired to care that he had his head in Kono’s lap.  He just hoped that Chin wouldn’t chase him with his shotgun later!  When Danny stopped fidgeting and finally relaxed Kono gently ran her fingers through his hair in a soothing gesture she’d seen him use on Grace after a bad dream.  It wasn’t long before quiet snores were coming from the sleeping man.

Turning to look at her the other two men in the room raised their eyebrows at her and she grinned, “Needed a woman’s touch,” she whispered.

Steve chuckled, got up and pulled a blanket that he kept on the back of the couch over his slumbering friend.  Chin knew that there was nothing more than friendship in Kono’s gesture, it was something she’d done for him after a bad case and would do for Steve if he would let anyone other than Danny get close enough to offer any kind of comfort.

As long as Kono was around the men of 5-0 would always find a feminine touch to help them through the aftermath of bad cases.  Danny slept the rest of the afternoon without a dream to disturb the sleep he needed so much.

 


End file.
